Unions Shoalhaven submitted a letter on August 8 to the Prime Minister informing him of the motion that was raised and carried on Australia's policies towards asylum seekers and refugees at our last meeting.  

Trade unions have a proud history of standing up for human rights and persecuted minorities. Our movement includes many people from refugee backgrounds.

We should at all times ensure that our policies reflect respect and decency, consistent with Australia building a society that celebrates diversity, inclusion, compassion and multiculturalism and we call on all Australian parliamentarians to pursue an asylum seeker and refugee policy that re-establishes Australia's reputation as a welcoming and humane society.

The motion reads:

"This meeting of Unions Shoalhaven: (i) Supports ACTU refugee policy, (ii) calls on the Australian Government to refrain from deporting asylum seekers to Iraq, Sri Lanka, Afghanistan, or elsewhere to danger; and (iii) Notes that offshore processing means refugees under Australian care have been detained indefinitely in countries where their safety cannot be guaranteed. We therefore call on the government to end offshore processing, and bring the refugees and asylum seekers on Manus and Nauru to Australia."

The right to claim asylum by any means of travel is in Australian Law and in the 1951 UN Convention on Refugees. Despite this, refugees who arrived by boat since August 13,  2013 have spent almost five years detained on Nauru and Manus Island, Papua New Guinea, in squalid inhuman conditions with no clear future. They are denied appropriate medical care and over half have developed mental health problems.

Unions Shoalhaven supports the ACTU Congress call on the Australian Government to continue to work towards a regional solution to the plight of people seeking asylum. This includes improving access to protection in all countries in the region, improving living standards for asylum seekers and increasing the humanitarian intake of refugees.

In response to L. Robertson’s letter about the hearing into the West Culburra development: words of derision and assumptions lead away from the real issue, being sustainable communities with a tiny carbon footprint and creative drainage. Outdated or modern stereotypes don’t help the discussion. 

The reality of the examples raised to prove signs of life are not as they seem. The Nippers once had the police called on them when a concerned citizen greenie didn’t like them using the lake. The so-called “large scale” development in modest, not remotely like Shellharbour, each stage to be individually considered. 

The coffee shops and eateries that have sprung up from the ashes of previous businesses are hardly a solution to long-term employment or income. 

The assumptions of L. Robertson regarding vested interests fuelled by beer and grey hair is highly offensive and illustrates just how smug and self-satisfied the author can be. No doubt sampling the varied eateries and coffee venues is nice (if your budget stretches that far) but it does nothing for the environment in the wrong or right places.